Let Him Go
by SunFrost1034
Summary: The world is changing, and not necessarily for the better. War!AU...


_Sierra, where are you? There's something important that you need to know – Liberia, 9:12 AM, 9/3/28_

_ Ok, c'mon, seriously, it's important. I know you're still dealing with the after-effects of that virus, but you have to come over to my place – Liberia, 9:00 AM, 9/6/28_

_ Please, little sis, just answer my text. My boss isn't gonna wait forever, you know – Liberia, 3:13 PM 10/1/28_

_ There's not much time now, Sierra…I just want you to know that I have always loved you, and I always will, and I will not forget you. Please do not forget about me – Liberia, 11:30 AM, 10/10/28_

I stared numbly at my phone, re-reading his final message to me. "Dammit, brother…why?" I asked myself. Only yesterday had I found out that the land of Liberia had been dissolved permanently, thanks to it being invaded by Israel and having sections of it divided up and sold off, mainly to Mexico and Brazil. Newspaper articles were filled with grim stories of riots and looting, with that _damn _USA trying to step in and make things worse – I mean better.

And also, the economy had become so bad that even the people in power were saying that it had gone so much downhill that it was highly unlikely to raise it back up again. I know my brother had been under a lot of stress recently…but surely it couldn't have driven him to give up…could it?

To make my situation as bad as possible, there was a world conference tomorrow, where I will finally have to face everyone after declaring myself alone from the rest of the countries. A few stray tears rolled down my face, but I made no attempt to brush them off.

"How could this happen to me?"

-line break—

The building loomed ahead of me, casting a threatening shadow over everything. To put it simply, I was beyond nervous. I was terrified to the core.

A few other nations passed by me, sending a curious glance in my direction. I attempted smiling at them to show that I was alright, and they continued on. "Well…I'm gonna have to go in there sooner or later," I said aloud.

_Of all the places in the world, why does the meeting have to take place in Kiev? _I thought, gazing at the paintings on the wall, some of which were very ugly, I might add. Greece appeared in my field of vision, and for some strange reason, he had a cat on his head and another one on his shoulder.

I chuckled. "Europeans are so weird." Just then a voice said, "Yeah, you can say that again. I just saw Francis and Britain strangling each other, and why does Switzerland always have a gun on his back? Do not even get me started on Poland…"

Turning, I saw Morocco nearby, a smirk on his face. It took every bit of self-control that I had to not immediately punch him in the jaw. "What are you doing here, Mor? Aren't you supposed to be fighting Algeria for control over Egypt?"

"We agreed to a week-long ceasefire, loser!" he shot back. "And I'll have you know, Egypt isn't one to just sit around and let others take his land. He has a true fighting spirit."

"I know…" I replied. Morocco gestured for us to move on. "If we stand here any longer, we're going to miss the conference. C'mon." I took off running, ignoring his shocked outcry of protest.

He eventually caught up to me, gasping for air. "I always hated how you and your brother were so much faster than I ever was…" I smirked at his statement. "Just proves we were both superior to you, then," I told him.

"Yeah, you run awfully fast for a girl, especially for a girl wearing a dre-OW!" That was me slapping him. "I dare you to repeat that sentence," I said with a smug face. Thankfully, he proved he was smart for once in his pathetic life and stepped off.

We pushed open the doors to the conference room, where only four countries were sitting. Greece had already dozed off, Japan was next to him and looking rather uncomfortable, Turkey had claimed the front of the table and America was laughing about something, most likely something stupid.

France and Britain were right behind us, and both had bright red hand marks on their necks, obviously from when they were trying to choke each other. Switzerland and his sister were the next to arrive, along with Romano and Germany and several others.

At last, the world had been assembled, and I thanked God that America was not hosting it, for once. It was going to be South Africa, instead. So he made his way to the end of the room and held up some documents.

Clearing his throat, he began to speak. "Twenty-three soldiers died last week, all serving in my army. However, their sacrifice was beneficial for helping us ward off the soldiers from Botswana and Zimbabwe. On another note, manufacturing has been going smoothly in this month, and prices are predicted to rise significantly in the next several weeks or so."

Each country took their turn, until after what seemed like an eternity, it was my chance to speak. I glanced down at the papers in front of me, unsure if I should go up and speak or not. _First rule of being a country: Be informed and keep others informed but not invading._

So I went up there with the documents in my hands, and looked all around the room, at each and every country. I took a deep breath and steeled my nerves before I spoke.

"There has been a rising number of births lately, in what seems like an attempt to make up for the great number of deaths that the virus brought about in my country, so re-population is going well, no outside assistance needed. Now, about outside assistance, as some of you may have heard already, Liberia has been dissolved, permanently, due to the growing tension between quite a few African nations and some parts of South America. I have avoided this crisis, thanks to my recently declared neutrality, but Liberia was not so lucky and received the fate of being sold to the Americas."

Murmurs started going around the table, with a lot of shocked expressions. Many countries knew what the relationship was like between me and Liberia, but I did not care for their sympathy at this moment.

I continued. "Also, the waters between Greenland and Canada have become filled with US Navy warships. Why they are there, no one knows, but hopefully the reason will be revealed soon."

Almost everyone turned to look at America, who stared straight ahead with a horrified face. Instantly, he whipped out his phone and ran into the hallway. I could practically sense the mystery in the air, of why America was acting like that.

But the meeting must go on.

-line break—

"Hey, Sierra, can I talk to you for a minute?" someone called out. I turned around to see Guinea approaching me with a solemn stare. "Sure, what is it?" I asked. "I just…wanted to say that I'm sorry to hear about your brother…"

A piece of my stone heart cracked. "Yeah, well, he's gone now. He knew what he wanted to do…it's my entire fault. I ignored his messages when I should have answered…" But the man shook his head.

"No, that's not what happened." I affixed him with an inquisitive look. "We talked, the day he…vanished. He said how he regretted that he wasn't able to do a good job of protecting you. He mentioned the day, all those years ago, that you decided to move out. He was happy that you were becoming independent enough to survive on your own, but…he also said that there was always an awkward feeling, whenever he attempted to teach you things, that he was doing it all wrong. He blamed the gender difference, but I sense that it was more than that. He blamed himself…he had seen signs of your civil war coming before it even started, but he had done nothing to prevent it. He said that it was his fault for making you suffer through every second of that pain, for a decade."

My stone heart crumbled. "It wasn't," I said. "It was never his fault. It was painful, almost every day, but I came out stronger and better for the most part. Surviving the war made me realize that I was powerful, but I just didn't know it before. I would not have had any other man raise me, except Liberia. He took me in when he saw that I had no place to go, taught me everything he knew about the world, did his best to protect me. How many times have you seen a complete stranger give his heart for another? Nowadays, you see a stranger taking a child off the street, you scream, 'Kidnapper!' or 'Pedophile!' But those days…they were different. And I'm glad they were."

Guinea smiled at me, a true genuine smile. He put his arm around me. "You and Liberia had a very special bond." I nodded, smiling back. "I would not have changed a single moment of my life, for anything in the world."

_ God bless your soul, big brother…_


End file.
